alcohol-based. >> reporter: in all emergency kits make sure to have plenty of water and about two weeks' worth of nonperishable foods. >> really important to start planning ahead and to have these items in your house as a stockpile. there might be shortages of certain supplies so it's really important to start stockpiling some of these items. >> health officials say the best way to prevent spreading the swine flu virus is simply washing your hands, washing them well. also remember to cough and sneeze into your elbow, not in your hands. >> stay with us, everyone. "news 4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m. the time for bickering is over. the type for games have passed. >> house call. president obama takes his pitch for health care reform directly to congress and to the american people.

why critics on both sides might be upset that he reached across the aisle. good morning and welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison today, thursday, september 10th, 2009. we're going to take a live look outside right now at 5:00 a.m., 67 degrees. the past few days we've had cloudy skies and sprinkles around the region. today, what's it going to be like, meisorm ologtot kieiton? >>er psistence indeed. indeed. les.look look at the radar. e passing ovingassi p ngom s light swersus nowt j near , dausscrtheusrn montgomery county, near m airy and wehon errdward county oufrederick county at th is ered choounty at this hour. but getting some showers nto anl arerwhoseuntyco e,elt nsewhere, no rain. temperatures are cool, in the 60s, now 66 in washington.se and the wider v r he otheshowers farther to our heutrntegiirnia. an areas oar p il lstlyan h till han he t mid-atlaic coaoast but it's

going to drift a little bit closer to coast today. as a result will increase our chances for some rain. but this morning for the morning bus stop forecast, sunrise 6:44. throughout the morning it will be in the 60s with a slight chance of a few sprinkles. otherwise, cloudy, blustery and cool this morning. the winds will pick up a bit later on today. could have gustso 25,5, 30 miles an hour with some passing showers likely by this afternoon and overnight tonight and highs near 70. over an inch o r fain possible by late tonight. then friday, maybe some morning showers through hdd,ayighs low 70s. then we ought to see some sun breaking out by late afternoon. and then finallyig it appears we'll be dryinnou ot saturday and sunday with highs into the upper 70s, near 80 on saturday, just a slight chance of an additional shower saturday. sunday, partly cloudy nooshgs the low 80s. looks like we'll stay that way into monday. a chance for more rain tuesday, wednesday of next week. that's the way it looks on this thursday morning. i'm back with frequent updates throughout the morning. >> we'll see you. thank you, tom. >> thanks very much. let's go to jerry edwards now and the news 4 traffic network.

jerry, any early problems? >> one accident on the beltway. get to that in a second. overnight road work, most of it is wrapped up now. 395 between shirlington and glebe road, looks like the lanes are open headed north through landmark, shirlington, into downtown. the southbound side of 395, light volume of traffic. the accident was on the outer loop of the beltway at central avenue with the two right lanes blocked. police, fire and rescue crews on the scene there. coming north from andrews headed toward greenbelt, continuing over to the beltway you may find traffic a bit slow. 270 southbound, no worries there. the overnight road work pretty much wrapped up. we're looking okay at the american legion bridge with uneven pavement. ,jo k u. >>nks tery much, jerry. lawmakers are reacting to what's being called the most important speech of barack obama's presidency so far. that was his address to congress on health care reform last night. there's also plenty of buzz this morning about one congressman's conduct during that speech. brooke hart joins us live from capitol hill with the latest. brooke, good to see you.

thanks for joining us. let's start off with that congressman's conduct. explain what that was and why there's so much talk about it. >> reporter: right. this was house republican joe wilson and, joe, it happened off camera so you didn't actually see him do this, but it was a rare breach of protocol and respect. you saw some reaction to it as the president was delivering his speech. it came as president obama was talking about and trying to debunk some myths about his health care reform ideas, specifically in this case whether illegal immigrants would be covered by reform and get health care because of it. and at the same time, he was doing that, off camera you heard someone in the audience say, "you lie." as i mentioned, a rare breach of protocol and respect there. house leaders are weighing possibly punishing house republican leader wilson because of it. president obama was trying to appeal to lawmakers at the time to stop bickering. >> the president of the united states. >> reporter: answering charges

he's been vagu president obama took his specific health care call to congress. >> the plan i'm announcing tonight -- >> reporter: the president said insurance abuses will end. >> it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it the most. >> reporter: but that was the easy part. on the controversial public option for insurance, the president pushed it but with no ultimatum. >> i will not back down on the basic principle that if americans can't find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice. >> reporter: republicans called that more of the same. >> this was just one more speh about the same bad plan. >> reporter: one gop critic even heckled the president. >> you lie. >> not true. >> reporter: south carolina's joe wilson said, you lie, when

the president tried to debunk myths about the plan covering undocumented immigrants. he also blasted the death panel claims. >> it is a lie, plain and simple. >> reporter: in calling for health care action, t president named republican friends of the late ted kennedy, hatch, mccain. >> we did not come to fear the future. we came here to shape it. i still believe we can act even when it's hard. >> reporter: to draw support, the president said he was ordering a malpractice reform initiative under way. one piece that drew republican cheers. that is something that republicans have long demanded and it shows president obama is still holding out hope for a bipartisan bill. as for house republican wilson, he later issued a statement apologizing for what he called a lack of civility. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. joe, back to nku.hary tves ch m >> reporter: you're welcome. >> new today, route 7 in leesburg is shut down in both

directions right now after a s riseaccident. ri h2: 00 2: a. a.m. betweenand river creek par. hond.urncreek parkway.tnd westb tht cethhour. the condition of ttihe people involv in that accident is not known at this time. authorities are investigating a deadly house fire in the brians road area of charles county. we're told the house was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived before 10:00 last night. ar knocking down the fire, firefighters found a body inside. there's no word yet on who the victim might be or what started the fire. a firefighter suffered minor injuries while battling the fire. >> 5:07, 67 degrees right now. why you should not be surprised to see a huge police presence during your commute today. >> it's the end of the day, it's a bunch of drunks. >> plus, tough talk from police after a prank that starts fans call no laughing matter. why it might be the ultimate disrespect.pl

bargain bl ast. bargain blast. ba ppaarticiting locations in nor. in a loaf oa a lf to ozge dba ,ls s lomeengeozbaa to 'senlddrhi c t ic rvseesrviicrvse.es that's today at panera bread stories in northern virginia. >>5:11 is your time. that means time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> let's go to meteorologist tom kierein. he's in storm center 4. tom? >> another unusually cool start to this september morning as we get going on this 10th day of september. we do have some light showers in northern montgomery county, southern frederick and in southern washington county. these are heading from the east to the west. another little shower there where fauquier and loudoun county meet near the blue ridge. elsewhere, southern maryland a few sprinkles in st. mary's county. eastern shore getting a few showers in talbot county and

queen anne's county this morning. this will continue for another hour or so. looks like things will settle down a bit through mid-morning. temperatures right now in the mid-60s. slight chance of a shower. otherwise cloudy through the morning, in the 60s. then maybe briefly near 70 just after noon time. a likelihood of passing showers this afternoon as well as overnight tonight. we could pick up more than an inch of rain by the time we get into friday morning. then friday maybe a shower in the morning into early afternoon. then we ought to get some sun back by late afternoon, highs low 70s. saturday and sunday, sunshine returns. highs low to mid-80s. in fact, by sunday afternoon. blustery winds today, too, gusting to 25. let's check traffic. jerry, how's it looking at this hour? >> head south to the capital beltway as i make the trip through oxon hill, travel lanes are open and available. elsewhere, had a water main break in northwest washington, connecticut avenue, they may be out there with a lane or two ocked. other than that, looking good around most of the area. back to you.

>> thanks, jerry. >> it is now 5:12, 67 degrees. a zoning crackdown in prince george's county. why we can't show you too much of it. >> and we're connected to your commute from rate hikes to safety improvements, we'll tell lih what's on metro's wisro's wt fofor the next ten years.

today metro's board will be

meeting to discuss the agency's budget. among the items on the agenda are key safy improvements and a possible fare hike. megan mcgrath joins us now with more. >> reporter: good morning. metro is facing a $100 million budget shortfall in the year 2011. that means they're looking for ways to save money as well as increase revenue, and that will likely mean fare hikes for riders beginning in 2011. now, there are no hard numbers but metro's general manager has said publicly that he thinks the increases are inevitable to close the budget shortfall. they're going to be discussing this at the metro brd meeting that takes place later today. now, there are no hard numbers but again, there is a feeling that the only way that they're going to be abe to close this gap is through some kind of a fare increase as well as cutting back on budget items. now, there are a number of other issues that are on the agenda today at that board meeting, including a list of capital improvements that are needed over the next ten years. th ntsb safety recommendations

are going to be taking priority, according to metro officials. they're going to be recommending replacing the oldest railcars. that means all 290 of the 1,000 series cars that are original to the system. those cars have repeatedly been called unsafe by the ntsb so the plan here under that capital improvement plan is to replace all of those cars. as well as sections of the rail system. this would cost about $11 billion over the next ten years. metro officials are going to be outlining some of those recommendations and their strategy at the board meeting later on today. now, as you would imagine, though, the idea of fare hikes not very popular with riders. we're going to have more on that coming up later in the show. eun, back to you. >> we'll see you then, megan mcgrath in rockville this morning. thank you. if you take the metro or marc train through montgomery county, you may notice a lot of extra police officers today but don't worry. it's part of a planned exercise

designed to keep you safe. law enforcement agencies will be conducting a training exercise on terrorist threats. around 150 officers will be spread out at various metro and marc train stations. this is a planned exercise and is not in response to any specific threats. >> well, prince george's county council members voted to crack down on adult businesses in the county. here's the deal. businesses that carry more than 10% adult material can operate only in areas zoned for industrial businesses. owners have until january of 2011 to be relocated. the crackdown comes in an effort to prevent such businesses from operating in residential neighborhoods. county officials say the laws have always been on the books, they've just not been enforced. there are several men who are not very popular in baltimore this morning because they stole a monument to one of the city's most beloved baseball stars. police officers responded to a domestic disturbance call early yesterday morning. when they arrived, they found four intoxicated young men fighting.

with them was the cal ripken 4 foot tall number 8 statue that was stolen from outside camden yards tuesday night t baltimore police commissioner perhaps summed up the case best. >> at the end of the day, it's a bunch of drunks, you know? dummies coming into the downtown, coming around the stadium to do something dumb. >> and they did it, something dumb. the orioles retired ripken's number 8 uniform back in 2001. the number 8 statue was outside camden yards, along with others, including brook robinson's number 5. football fans, the wait is over. the nfl officially kicks off its season tonight with the pittsburgh steelers and the tennessee titans. >> the redskins have a few more days to prepare, and now they have their number two wide receiver. dan hellie has all your dedays in sports minute. >> good morning, everybody. we're talking redskins. head coach jim zorn named malcolm kelly his number two

receiver yesterday. kelly consistently performed like a starter throughout the preseason and gives the redskins that big body they've been looking for. meanwhile, on the diamond, nats taking on the phillies and with the game tied at 4 in the eighth, jason wirth getting big. his 33rd home run of the season, and the phillies win it 6-5. they have seven solo home runs in the last two days. in tennis, it's the u.s. open quarterfinal match between 17-year-old melanie oudin and 19-year-old caroline wozniacki. oudin had 42 unforced errors. wozniacki, the danish teenager wins it 6-2, 6-2. in soccer, d.c. united hosting kansas city last night. emilio scored his ninth goal of the season. the black and red hang on to beat the wizards 1-0. d.c. united sits in a two way tie for third place in the eastern conference. that's your sports minute. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great day.

>> hurricane season is pushing full steam ahead. hurricane lindas the latest storm to form. she's far out in the pacific with sustained winds of about 80 miles per hour. forecasters, though, expect it will weaken tonight and tomorrow. meanwhile, the space shuttle "discovery" took these pictures of hurricane fred over the atlantic. it was a category 3 hurricane storm at times -- at the time of these shots. it's been downgraded at that time category 2 storm is not expected to threaten any populated areas. >> time again for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> let's check in with meteorologist tom kierein. he's up in storm center 4 with our forecast. >> yeah, looks like fred's going to stay way out in the eastern atlantic and won't be aecng us, thankfully. well, this morning we do have some rain. where you see this blue on the radar getting some lig shors northern montgomery county, southern frederick into southern washington county as well as here on the loudoun and fauquier county line near the blue ridge. another few sprinkles in southern prince george's county, st. mary's counties and on the

eastern shore. these are heading east to west and it is a cool morning. we're only in the low and mid-60s. 66 now in washington with a wind that's picking up, too. it's going to be a blustery day, gusting to 25 miles an hour and a likelihood of rain this afternoon and tonight, only a slight chance of an additional sprinkle around this morning. then after tonight, into tomorrow morning we might get as much as an inch of rain, in fact, by this time tomorrow morning. maybe a few passing showers tomorrow morning, tapering off n and ebnding by friday afternoon. saturday and sunday it will warm up with increasing sunshine. as we get into the irs if part of next week, monday looks to be partly cloudy with highs in the low and mid-80s. tuesday and wnesday, another chance of rain. temperatures in the 70s and morning lows into the 60s. average high this time of year is near 80 so today quite unusually cool with highs in the upper 60s to near 70. now the traffic at this hour. how's it looking, jerry? >> tom, good morning to you. good morning, everyone.

doing pretty well inn stid capital beltway with no worries. eastbound 66, westbound 66 near glebe road inside the beltway pretty light volume of traffic at this hour so that is very good news. speaking of which let's check your speeds and see if i have good news for you there and, indeed, i do. on the capital beltway top side college park around to the american legion bridge, just 19 minutes, no accidents or broken down cars. overnight road work's been wrapped up. off the american legion bridge to i-66, 7 minutes. from i-66 down to springfield, just 8 minutes. right now all lanes are open. eun and joe, back to you. >> thanks very much. our time is 5:22, 67 degrees. why the boss will make another trip to d.c. this year. >> plus, a bizarre scene in a local school but this guy didn't lose his money in a vending machine. yid real reason behind his raag e. y reminder. ine 4wssaylw a 4s connected to you on facebook and twier for ,news tgin e,ws weather and traffic alerts n ca uu r ndfis on either siten.

♪ bruce springsteen will have a few glory days here in washington later this year. the boss, along with mel brooks and robert de niro will receive kennedy center honors this december. the three are being recognized for their unique artistry. president obama will host them at the white house on december the 5th. then they'll be honored at a gala that evening. >> prince george's county police are asking for your help in identifying a thief. the thief is seen here caught on surveillance tape. he's holding what looks like a hammer and tools. police say the suspect first breaks a window to get into the school, then steals money from vending machines. investigators say in the past three weeks, 11 schools have been broken into and 7 burglarized. it is 5:26, 67 degrees.

why ethnic violence might be to blame. >> the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie. >> you might call it unprecedented. what prompted one lawmaker to heckle president obama durinono his address on capitol hill.

i'm not the first president to take up this cause, but i am determined to be the last. >> to your health. president obama makes his pitch for health care reform. why he now wants all americans to have insurance whether they like it or not. >> well, good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison today, thursday, september 10th, 2009. we're going to take a live look outside right now at 5:30.

67 degrees. still dark outside. i wonder if there are any clouds overhead. meteorologist tom kierein joins news the studio with all the information on the forecast. >> cloudy and unusually cool and you're going to like it. e> whether we like it or not. uintiga a is>>th continue again this morning. here we go. look at the radar. the blips of blue are areas of light rain right now in southern prince george's county, getting a little shower there right where it meets charles county line. an n i montgomery county there's he tttoes w jret of kvnd a west off po potomac th rain now crossingheoe mntgomery county linehein montgomery county linen frederik stoerthre fcknt countdo cri lo well as along the potomac up near harper's ferry in southern washington county. that's now just drifting over toward charlestown and ing esur. elwhere getting another sprinkle there in loudoun and northernauquier county in southern, southwestern how ofte r knu .o on the eastern shore, too. around the region, temperatures are in the cool, in the 60s. we'll stay in the 60s throughout the morning with a passing

shower possible, a slight chance, but a likelihood of afternoon and evening rain. by this time tomorrow morning we may pick up as much as an inch of rain. then a drying trend thankfully by friday afternoon into the weekend. >> we'll be looking forward to that. >> let's go to jerry edwards now. he's keeping his eye on the roads. what do we see? >> traffic. >> thanks very much. >> got to mix it up somehow. that's why i get the big bucks. capital beltway, both the inner loop and outer loop moving along nicely now between the american legion bridge, tysons corner. no worries. word of an accident on the gw parkway, southbound gw parkway, word of an accident as you approach route 123. watch for police on the scene there. marquet market street, route 7 remains closed. evans road is the point of detour. back to you. >> thanks very much, jerry. president obama is working to get congress to support for health care reform and he may need to winveher t public as

well. 52% of americans disapprove of the way the president is e debate theeaarlt ch so far, according to a new a.p. poll. 49% of the people polled say they appose the health care overhealth care plan congress is congress right now. president obama's overall approval numbers have fallen to 50%, according to the poll. it was at 55% in july. kimberly suiters now joins us with more on what president obama is doing to try to rally support for health care reform. good morning. >> good morning, joe. well, the public has asked the president to really be clear on this issue so the president laid out three goals in his speech -- more security if you have insurance, coverage if you don't have it and a slowing of health care costs. the president also addressed what he called bogus claims, confusion and scare tactics, and he seemed to reach out to the left and the right over the issue of government-run coverage, the so-called public option. >> the time for bickering is over.

the time for games has passed. now is the season for action. now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together and show the american people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. now is the time to deliver on health care. the public option is only a means to that end, and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal. and to my republican friends, i say that rather than making wild claims about a government takeover of health care we should work together to address any legitimate concerns you may have. >> now, republicans picked a representative who's also a heart surgeon to deliver the gop's response. the doctor said republicans are ready to work with the president on affordable, commonsense reforms. then there was this. >> it's clear the american people want health care reform, but they want ty're lekted leaders to get it right.

most americans wanted to hear the president tell speaker pelosi, majority leader reid and the rest of the congress that it's time to start over on a commonsense, bipartisan plan focused on lowering the cost of health care while improving quality. that's what i've heard over the past several months in talking to thousands of my constituents. replacing your family's current health care with government-run health care is not the answer. in fact, it will make health care much more expensive. >> the president making it clear he does not intend to start over. he said he wants to build on what works and fix what doesn't. this plan, he says, will cost $900 billion over ten years, less than the cost of the wars in iraq and afghanistan, although critics still want more details on how to pay for it. senate democrats say you can expect a bill that can pass as soon as next week. joe? >> thanks very much, kimberly. one sth carolina congressman says he is now sorry for heckling president obama

last night. >> the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie. >> not true. >> that was republican joe wilson shouting, "you lie," at the president. wilson apologized after the speech and claims he let his emotions get the best of him. even some fellow republicans found the outburst inappropriate. senator john mccain called it, quote, totally disrespectful. >> breaking news this morning. an accident in leesburg has claimed a life overnight. it happened on route 7 near battlefield parkway. tracee wilkins is now on the scene with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. this was an extraordinary accident. things are still unfolding here on the scene as police try to work outhe details for what happened here. but i can show you that right over there is where they're working, where right before the approach to route 15. we're standing in the westbound lanes of route 7 in leesburg. they tell us that a car was driving down the road around

1:40 a.m., sideswiped a dump truck, destroying the car. the passenger was killed immediately. but then the driver jumps out of the vehicle and runs away, attempting to hitchhike about a block away. he was picked up by police and is now undergoing dui testing. police say that alcohol was found in the car and that they have a number of witnesses reporting that this vehicle was driving erratical coming down the roadway. so a lot of folks cooperating with police here. now, again, this is on route 7 in leesburg. the westbound lanes between river creek parkway and battlefield have been shut down completely as they deal with this. you're going to have to work out an alternative route. the eastbound lanes are functioning just fine. folks are getting by over there without any issue. so that's good for the morning commute since most folks will be heading up that way. here live on the scene and we'll be bringing you an update as soon as one becomes available. back to you. >> we'll check in with you then, tracee wilkins, thank you. >> violence between men of indian and pakistani descent is

perhaps common in south asia but not in loudoun county. but that's exactly what happened when police were called to a brawl in leesburg. officers arrived at the evans ridge apartment complex tuesday night for a report of a melee between at least 20 young men. seven men were injured with everything from concussions to broken bones. they told police it started as a fight between two different ethnic groups. >> standing in front of my house, and just about to walk in to get something, and the moment is like four, five cars showed up. they got everything. everything. >> this man's young brother and his cousin were also injured. both attend heritage high school and told -- told police that bad blood may be a carryover of long-standing tension between the countries of their birth. police tell us a school resource officer has not reported any other similar problems. our time is 5:38, 67

degrees. another political sex scandal. wait until you hear what one lawmaker said when he didn't know his microphone was on. >> plus, a study about cell phones not your health.th

time for weather and traffic. good morning. right now a cool 66 in washington. on radar, we have som widely scattered light showers across virginia, maryland this morning and panhandle of west virginia and it is certainly cool. only in the low and mid-60s all around the region. we'll stay in the 60s through the morning with a slight chance of a shower, then a likelihood of passing showers this afternoon and this evening. highs near 70. we may have as much as of an inch of rain by this time tomorrow morning. near 60 starting off friday. might have a passing shower tomorrow morning but then drying out friday afternoon, into the weekend. i'll have your national travel forecast and the bus stop forecast in ten minutes. jerry, how's the traffic? >> head out, give you a sampling, let you know how things are progressing. here's the top side of the capital beltway. that's the outer loop, that's

the inner loop between connecticut avenue and rockville pike. right now moving along pretty well so very good news if you're headed in that direction. elsewhere, let you know pice are dealing with an accident southbound gw parkway at 123 with at least one lane blocked off. on the rails, marc rail, brunswick train 890, brunswick train 890 is 11 minutes late. bear that in mind. back to you. >> thanks very much. 5:43, 68 degrees. find out what bernie madoff had to say about just how easy it was for him to pull off the biggest fraud in wall street history. >> plus, a six-pack for six-pack abs. can a an you fit and trim? d

the future of metro will be discussed today. metro is holding a board meeting to discuss the agency's budget and capital improvements to metro system. a possible fare hike is expected to be discussed. capital expenditures, including much-needed safety improvements, are on the agenda as well.

ntsb safety recommendations will get top priority. that includes replacing all the 290 1,000 series railcars. metro will get an update on the number of work that shut down metro over the weekend. the all-day long law enforcement agencies will be conducting a training exercise on how to respond to terrorist threats. about 150 officers will be spread out at various metro and marc station ace cross the country. this is a planned exercise and is not in response to any identified threat. >> well, the race for governor of virginia is heating up now. republican bob mcdonnell and democrat creigh deeds campaigned yesterday in richmond. mcdonnell was joined on the trail by the minnesota governor. he ripped deeds on his jobs record. deeds spent part of the day at virginia union university,

promoting his education plan and ripping mcdonnell foris plan to improve the state's transportation system. >> job creation is the top issue in this campaign. my opponent has an "f" from the small business leaders. >> the crux of his transportation plan is to take $5.4 billion out of the general fund over the next ten years. >> virginia voters head to the polls in fewer than six weeks. well, the eyes of the political world are on the u.s. supreme court and its consideration of a key constitutional question. the case before the court starts with hillary clinton. during last year's presidential campaign, a conservative group tried to run a caustic documentary about her, but it was blocked by the government on the grounds that it was partially funded by corporations. now the film's backers are challenging the decision on free speech, first amendment grounds. justices seem poised to rule in favor of the filmmakers, but supportersf the law that banned the film are now speaking out.

>> corporations have lots of knowledge about environment, transportation issues and you're silencing them during the election. >> does anyone believe that the rights of average citizens to be heard in washington would not be overridden by massive campaign, unlimited campaign contributions from corporations and unions? >> tther, - rather, isisthe fashe tstir forst the court's newest justice, sonia sotomayor. >> in newly released transcript of a 2005 telephone call, disgraced financier bernard made joh says, quote, you don't have to be too brilliant to fool the s.e.c. the transcript was made public by the massachusetts secretary of state whose office reached an $8 million settlement this week to refund madoff's investors. during the call madoff coaches a witness who was about to be interviewed by his investment firm. he also begins the call by saying, quote, this call never took place. madoff was sentenced to 150

years in prison for masterminding a multibillion dollar ponzi scheme. prosecutors in prince george's county are cracking down on where adult businesses set up shop. they voted to update and enforce existing laws. adult stores must only operate in areas zoned for industrial business. county officials are giving business owners until january 2011 to relocate. the crackdown comes in an effort to prevent adult businesses from operating in residential neighborhoods. >> a california lawmaker has resigned now after comments about his extramarital affairs and sexual escapades were caught on tape. take a look at this video recorded in july. the then orange county assembly man mike duvall was caught brging about affairs he was having with two women. the graphic conversation took place during a committee hearing break. duvall apparently did not realize the microphone in front

o w he thasentire time. >> oh, dear. the woman he was talking about happens to be a lobbyist, and since duvall was vice chair of the -- vice chair, i should say, of the energy and commerce committee and e ethics investigation has been launched. duvall is married with two grown children. >> mother nature may deal another blow today to firefighters battling that giant wildfire in southern california. forecasters are predicting warmer temperatures and drier conditions today. crews began destroying fuel that would have helped spread the flames. the fire is 62% contained. it's burned about 250 square miles in more than two weeks and killed two firefighters. investigators believe it was set

intentionally. >> just about 5:51 now. time again for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> meteorologist tom kierein is now with us and he's going to give us an update on the forecast. >> another rather cool september morning under way. in fact, temperatures only in the 60s now. we do have a few scattered showers around as we take a look around our oej roon this morning. we've got a cloudy sky over the washington monument. live picture from the city camera. now a cool 66 in washington. looking at the radar, where you see these areas of blue on the screen getting some patchy areas of light rain just to the south of washington in st. mary's county and across the tidal potomac into the northern part of the northern neck. elsewhere getting one little shower here on the charles and prince george's county line. these, by the way, are heading from the east to the west. there's another shower here on the blackwater wildlife refuge south of cambridge. up in northern montgomery county, into southern frederick, northern loudoun county we have a couple of other passing showers that are moving toward the west heading into the panhandle of west virginia.

but elsewhere we don't have any precipitation falling. most of the region is dry and it's a cloudy morning with temperatures in the low to mid-60s from the shenandoah valley all the way to the atlantic beaches. out of the mountains even cooler. it's in the mid-50s this morning and over the last six hours, this pesky low pressure system that's been lurking over the atlantic seaboard continuing to give us this easterly flow. traveling today, might have some flight delays across the south land, texas, the southern plains, perhaps around the four corners area out west but not here. probably no flight delays, just a bit of an easterly wind with this moist flow coming in around this low pressure system. it's going to continue to be cloudy and cool. as we go forward over the next 36 hours, where you see the color's where we could get some rain. by this time tomorrow morning we may have picked up as much as an inch of rain. then during the day on friday, a gradual drying trend as we get into the weekend. high pressure will be moving in. the school buses will be moving in, too, this morning. by the time buses arrive, we may

have a few scattered sprinkles. temperatures in the 60s. but most of the region should just be cloudy. cllnce of some additional sprinkles by late morning and into noontime. but then by early a cftnoonh wit highs near 70e'll weavur h o increasing chances of some rain as that coastal low begins to creep closer to the beaches and the atlantic seaboard. as a result we'll have an increased chce of rain this afternoon with highs reaching the upper 60s. once that rain commences, it's going to be in the cool mid to low 60s and occasional showers likely tonight, by this time tomorrow morning near 60 and a wet start to friday, it appears w.no but by friday afternoon, any rad sulw.hobe ending. highs low 70s. over the weekend, oh, thankfully n iime for saturday and ornd fay anll you outdoor plans, morning lows near 60, afternoon highs near 80 on saturday and partly sunny. only a real small chance of a passing shower saturday. sunday, partly cloudy to mostly sunny, highs low 80s. more of the same on monday. another chance of rain mid-week

next week. that's the way it looks this morning. back in ten minutes. >> we'll see you then. thank you, tom. >> thanks very much. let's go to jerry edwards now, take a look at the roadways. jerry? >> good morning. still relatively quiet. take a live look here, picking up a lot of early morning volume now of course along the 95 corridor beginning the trip out of dumfries toward dale city and beyond. all travel lanes, even the hov lanes are a little slow. i suspect we may have an issue here. hovs shouldn't be that slow. i'll check on that. southbound 95 looks like we're doing okay. elsewhere this morning, gw parkway had an accident at 123. look out for that. no need to hit the panic button yet along 66. gainesville to centreville up to 13 minutes. another 19 minutes from centreville to the beltway. again, just volume. inside the beltway continuing to move nicely to the roosevelt bridge. joe, back to you. >> don't hit the panic button. just hit the snooze alarm. now a new study has booze hounds toasting their health.

researchers found that drinkers apparently exercise more than nondrinkers. for more on this seemingly paradoxical finding, here's sharon lawson. >> reporter: you've heard the positive and negligent if i have effects related to drinking alcohol but what if you heard regular alcohol consumption could lead to more exercise? >> it is quite interesting. >> that's pretty weird actually. >> i work out to drink. >> reporter: some say it's a fascinating study that may have you raise your glass and celebrate. >> we conducted the study and found that moderate drinkers actually do exercise more, but heavier drinkers also exercise more than abstainers, which was a bit of a surprise to you. >> reporter: michael french is is the study's lead author and professor of health economics at the university of miami. his study, published in the american journal of health promotions, is the result of analyz analyzed data of 230 million americans. researchers found there's a 10% increase in the probability of

engaging in vigorous exercise. compared with those who didn't drink, light drinkers exercise 5.7 more minuteser week. moderate drinkers about 10 minutes. heavy drinkers, almost 20 more minutes. why the increase? a possible motivation to counteract the caloric inn take. >> it could also mean that moderate drinkers are just living a moderate life-style. >> reporter: but french cautions the results don't encourage drinking. >> we don't want to advocate that those who want to improve their exercise proam should start drinking. in fact, i would strongly suggest that this is not a definitive cause and effect relationship. >> reporter: so could the study change your beverage of choice before or after you pump up? >> i don't think it's going to change anybody either way. i think that if you work out, you work out. if you drink, you drink. i don't think you're going to stop either. >> that was sharon lawson reporting. the charge on your cell phone may be giving off more than your favorite ring tone. a recent study found some cell phones put out several times more radiation than others.

an environmental group says studies show an increased risk for brain and mouth tumors for those who have used cell phones for more than ten years. radiation levels aren't required by the government so many phones don't even know their power levels. the group claims the highest are the t-mobile, my touch 3g, a motorola phone. >> news 4 is helping t foind jobs f oryou. today, monster.com is hold ago a fai at the sheraton premier'sonys t corner on leesburg pike. it is happening today from 10:00 his he morning to 3:00 t nfteremibtder, nsewmibtdere new ok bocendbo twitter.ca n u yoaln wainysys fd us on fite site byea sng news4today. that is one word. some encouraging news from the federal reserve this morning. why they say the recession might be over. the surprising announcement from

"american idol" as well. the fourth judge who will soon join simon, randy and kara. >> plus, meteorologist tom kierein says get ready for some more rain. we'll have your weather and traffic together on the 1s.

everyone in this congress gets affordable insurance and it's time to give every american the same opportunity that we give ourselves. >> salesman in chief. president obama goes before congress and the country to lay out his health care plan. part of his message, though, gets interrupted by a congressional heckler. good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison today, thursday, september 10th, 2009. we're taking a live look outside right now at 6:00 a.m.

66 degrees. cloudy skies overhead. does that mean more rain in the forecast today? meteorologist tom kierein's here with the latest. good morning. what do you think, tom? uffering from solardeprivation. pr are.e' dedeivion. ware. >> we could use some iosun, but unfortagat ely nerth cloudy day under way. ersee u ho treyo a oeassef as blue on r,so el wy me widely s serrsedweho from southern wemaryland, northn neck through southern pnce ge ge's county, into northern charles county as weou as on the eastern shore. in southern frederick county, forthern loudoun, panhale of s west virginia, but most of the region is dry at this hour. here's the forecast for the rest of the morng. slight chance of a shower and we'll stay in the 60s. usthon jent past noon it may reh near 70. a likelihood of passing showers this afternoon and overnight tonight. looks like a wet pattern as that coastal low gets closer to coast, we'll have an increased chance of rain through tonight, into tomorrow morning. and then as well will have some blustery winds, too,pt p j p gusting to 25 milesn ilhour. thankfully friday afternoon, into the weekend, a drying pattern moves in.

we'll be wming up as well. low 80s on sunday with sunshine finally coming back. a look at next week in ten minutes. >> we'll see you then. thanks so much, tom. >> now let's go to jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. >> a lot of volume. no big accidents yet, at least out on the interstates. this is 270 at montrose road. still quiet and dry pavement at this point. good news there. northbound and southbound travel lanes are open. elsewhere, at the wilson bridge we're doing okay. accident early this morning outer loop at central avenue is gone. last check, police still had at least one lane closed. gw parkway southbound at 123. now authorities are headed up to maryland 95 southbound near route 175, howard county, report of an accident. we'll keep you updated. back to you. >> thanks thavery much. >> one person is dead, another is in police custody after an accident in leesburg overnight. the investigation still has part of route 7 closed at this time. tracee wilkins is there on the scene with the latest.

good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. i have police over here to my left taking measurements, and because of that we're working with low lights that they can do their investigation the way they need to do it. but i want to show you over here live, left of your screen, they -- actually, you can see a little bit better now, how it looks like. part of the vehicle that was involved in this accident, it's partially underneath the dump truck that it sideswiped earlier. this is a caccording to police. we can show you video of what it looked like. they tell thaws a vehicle was traveling westbound on route 7. this is just before the route 15 exit. this vehicle struck the back of the dump truck, losing control and completely destroying this car. the passenger was killed instantly, according to police. the driver then fled the vehicle and was picked up by police trying to hitchhike about a block away up the road here on route 7. now, he is undergoing dui

testing, and is in police custody. police tell us they found alcohol inside the vehicle and also had reports from several witnesses that the driver was driving erratically. so that's why they're going to do the dui testing. route 7 is shut down in the westbound lanes between river creek parkway and battlefield so folks who are going eastbound, looks like you should hav no problems passing at this point. they may have close the road down later on because they still are working to get that body out of the vehicle. but for right now, folks are getting by just fine. i'm tracee wilkins, live this morning in leesburg. back to you in the studio. >> tracee, a terrible story. thank you very much. >> president obama is trying to get in control of the health care debate. he addressed a joint session of congress last night but got hecked byalne congressman in the middle of it. o during the speech, the president declared thatri the time for bickering is over on the issue and urged lawkers to put ics pide.as called for legislation that will cost aut $900 iollbin. that's less than the u.s. has isann.on thetan.

t ding theth ur u sca carolina congressman joe wilson yelled, "you lie." 9 brooke hart joins us live from capitol hill with more on last night's historic address. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. it was a rare breach of protocol there. you heard it during president's obama speech last night. house leaders are weighing possibly punishing republican joe wilson because of it. it came as president obama appealed to lawmakers to stop bickeri bickering. >> the president of the united states. >> reporter: answering charges he's been vague, the president took his call to congress. the president said insurance abuses will end. >> it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition, to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it the most. >> reporter: but that was the easy part. on the controversial public option for insurance, the

president pued it but with no ultimatum. >> i will not back down on the basic principle that if americans can't find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice. >> reporter: republicans called that more of the same. >> this was just one more speech about the same bad plan. >> reporter: one gop critic even heckled the president. >> you lie. >> not true. >> reporter: south carolina's joe wilson said, you lie, when the president tried to debunk myths about reforms covering undocumented immigrants. the president also blasted fake death panel claims. >> it is a lie, plain and simple. >> reporter: in calling for health care action, the president named republican friends of the late ted kennedy, hatch and mccain. >> we did not come to fear the future. we came here to shape it. i still believe we can act even when it's hard.

>> reporter: to draw support, the president said he was ordering a malpractice reform initiative under way. one piece that drew republican cheers. that is something that republicans have long demanded and it shows president obama is still holding out hope for a bipartisan bill. as for house republican wilson, he later issued a statement apologizing for what he called a lack of civility. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. joe, back you. >> brooke, thanks very much. >> reporter: you're welcome. >> the reforms i'm proposing wod not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie. >> once again, back to that issue of the heckling congressman. the south carolina congressman who did interrupt president obama last night has apologized, as brooke hart reported. republican joe wilson says that his emotions got the best of him when he yelled, "you lie," when the president said health care reform would not mean insuring illegal immigrants. house majority leader steny

hoyer of maryland says he will work with gop leaders to decide whether to punish pill son. >> the search is on for answers this morning after aanas w as found dead in a burng nime.ho ne h hnap i tdpehe 00 block of marshall hall road in the bryans road area of charles county. the home was engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived just before 10:00 last night after knocking down those flames, firefighters found a body inside. there's no word yet on who the victim might be or what started the fire. one firefighter suffered minor injuries while battling the flames. >> a youth minister in virginia is now accused of having sexual relations with a 15-year-old boy sh se swauppose tos be counseling. jennifer brennan is the youth minister at the b st. matthias united methodist church i m stafford. w tct aifhende mdied tctifehen that she had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy. brennan has been on unpaid administrative leave since july when the church learned of the allegations.

she now faces ten counts of taking indecent liberties with c o t contriting to the delinquency of a minor. >> the out of this world snapshots of the space from the hubble telescope, we'll show them to you coming up at 6:20. the story of dumb criminals who steal a statue of cal rien's number. find out if dnorht f ock stk miight fdn t

time for your weather and traffic. good morning. we've got a few widely scattered light showers when you look at the radar, you can see those areas of blue to our south as well as a few just up in frederick, northern loudoun county. most of the region is dry this morning. we do have a gale warning in effect for the bay and the tidal potomac. gusts of 45 miles an hour by later on. right now we're in the 60s around the region, 65 in washington. highs today only near 70 with that blustery wind and a likelihood of afternoon and evening showers.

may linger through noontime friday, then drying out friday afternoon, into the weekend. warming up, too, over the weekend. how's the traffic? >> a live look along 395 northbound at the 14th street bridge. a few brake lights. that's about it. everybody's merging nicely. the trip through northeast, kenilworth avenue, new york avenue seem to be doing okay. southeast washington is quiet. checking reports of an accident 95 near the interchange of route 175. police, fire and rescue crews headed over there. joe and eun, back to you. >> thank you very much, jerry. >> the comedian who is dancing all the way to hollywood this morning. we know who will be the fourth judge of "american idol." a heads-up for metro and marc riders. why you'll see more security on your commute in the next t

the future of metro will be debated today. metro is holding a board meeting to discuss the agency's budget and capital improvements to the metro system. a possible fare hike is expected to be discussed and capital expenditures are on the agenda. national transportation safety board recommendations will get top priority. that includes replacing all 290 of metro's aging 1,000 series railcars. board members will also get an update on the maintenance work that shut down a number of metro stations over the weekend. joe? >> well, if you take the metro or marc train throughout montgomery county today you're going to notice a lot of extra police officers, but you shouldn't be concerned. this is all par of a planned security drill designed to try to keep you safe. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us from the shady grove metro station with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. there are a number of different law enforcement agencies that will be taking part in this

drill, and as you say, people should not be alarmed. you're going to expect to see an increased police presence at the metro and marc stations in montgomery county. it is all a part of a training exercise. it's something they do periodically. in fact, the video we have to show you is from a similar drill that was held about a month and a half ago. now, there are 150 officers who will participate in the drill today. they'll be out there on the platforms and stations. they'll also be riding on trains. you may also even see members of s.w.a.t. teams as well as canine units, again, at the metro and marc stations today. this is not in response, they say, to any terrorist -- specific terrorist threat. tomorrow, of course, is the anniversary of 9/11. it is just a training drill, they say, that they have similar exercises yesterday on amtrak. they're going to be doing this today as well as tomorrow in montgomery county. now, these exercises are designed to duplicate the kind of response that would be used to detect and prevent terrorist activity in the event of a

heightened threat, a heightened alert. they just want to practice, make sure that they have all their ducks in a row in case they need it. so people should expect to see a heightend police presence at the metro and marc stations today. they'll be both in uniform as well as undercover, an undercover presence. you may also even see some trucks in the area of stations being pulled over and inspected. that is also a part of this training exercise. don't be concerned. just be aware of it and know what's going on here, simply an exercise. joe, back to you. >> okay. thanks very much, megan mcgrath reporting live from shady grove. >> joe, thanks. a day before the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks there's a call out for people to share their images of that day with others around the world. the photographs, audio and video will appear online as part of a project called "make mystery." the footage will be part of the national september 11th memorial and museum which is set to open in 2012 t ground zero. museum officials will hold a

news conference later this morning to discuss the web effort. new photos of the self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind have been released. relatives of khalid shaikh mohammed released the pictures that the red cross took this past july. they are the first known images of mohammed since 2003. the red cross takes pictures o prisoners to monitor their treatment. the pictures are sent to their family. >> police in baltimore busted four young men they say stole a large statue of the baseball great cal ripken's number from camden yards. officers responded to a domestic disturbance call early yesterday morning. when they arrived, they found four intoxicated men fighting. with them was the number 8 statue that was stolen from outside the orioles' ballpark on tuesday night t city's police commissioner perhaps summed up the case best. >> at the end of the day, it's a bunch of drunks, you know? it's dummies coming into the downtown, coming -- coming around the stadium to do something dumb.

>> a baltimore orioles spokesperson says she doesn't know when the statue will be reinstalled to join the eddie murphy and brooks robinson numbers that are there as well. are you ready for some football? the nfl season kicks off tonight. the super bowl champion pittsburgh steelers will host the tennessee titans. you can watch the game on nbc 4. coverage begins at 8:00. right now here's dan hellie with your sports minute. >> good morning, everybody. we're talking redskins. head coach jim zorn named malcolm kelly his number two receiver yesterday. kelly consistently performed like a starter throughout the preseason and gives the redskins that big body they've been looking for. meanwhile, on the diamond, nats taking on the phillies and with the game tied at 4 in the eighth, jason wirth getting big. his 33rd home run of the season, and the phillies win it 6-5. they have seven solo home runs in the last two days. in tennis, it's the u.s.

open quarterfinal match between 17-year-old melanie oudin and 19-year-old caroline wozniacki. oudin had 42 unforced errors. wozniacki, the danish teenager wins it 6-2, 6-2. she advances to the semifinals. in soccer, d.c. united hosting kansas city last night. emilio scored his ninth goal of the season. the black and red hang on to beat the wizards 1-0. d.c. united sits in a two-way tie for third place in the eastern conference. that's your sports minute. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great day.ve >> the hubble space telescope lives on and it's delivered some of the most stuing pictures ever captured in space. take a look at these images. wow. the hubble has given astronauts crystal-clear images of faraway galaxies, star clusters. the hubble underwent a risky repair mission, not knowing if the 19-year-old telescope would survive.

these pictures are proof it worked and hubble is expected to live another decade. >> those are absolutely stunning pictures. >> hard to believe they exist out there. it's amazing, really. >> 6:21 is the time now. time again for traffic and weather on the 1s. tom, what did you think of those pictures? >> fantastic. here on planet earth, here's a picture of our sky. low, gray clouds racing over washington, coming in from the east, moving west. a coastal low pressure system is getting closer to the coast. as a result, winds will pick up. an increased chance of rain. on radar, we are getting a few nght showers in southern ecto he nor tern neck of virginia but otherwise most of the region is dry this morning but it's cool. ace this coastal low gets closer, where you see the pink zone, that's a gale warning. we don't gethose very often. gusts of 45 miles an hour this afternoon with two to three-foot waves on the bay in tidal potomac. right now we're in the 60s. 65 in washington. highs only near 70. blustery winds farther inland,

too. could get up to an inch of rain by this time tomorrow morning. rain should taper off and end by friday afternoon, then drying out into the weekend and warming up as well. how's the traffic at this hour? >> hey, tom, chopper 4 over the scene of that serious crash in leesburg at this hour. this is route 7 westbound is the side that's closed, going away from the district, if you will. westbound route 7, which is market street, is closed. the eastbound lanes get by but because of rubber necking it is very, very slow. westbound 7 traffic being diverted onto ft.vans road. be prepared for delays. it is very heavy and very slow. as tracee wilkins has been telling us, the investigation through leesburg on route 7, market street, does continue. heads-up for that. that. keep you on top of checking your rails this morning, so far, so good. metrorail and vre. to update you on wha we reported earlier, w brunswick le train 820 is 20 minutes late now. and 872 is running 15 minutes

behind schedule.87 joe, back to you. >> jerry, thanks very much. two big entertainment announcements. "american idol" says who its fourth judge will be. and the kennedy center honorees are announced. and caught on tape. a thief who was stealing from a mb tyrnucepr oeocoins schools.

i am going to be the new judge on "american idol." >> yes, you heard it right. ellen degeneres is joining the judges' panel on "american idol." she won't be quitting her day job, though. she says she will still have her talk show during the day and "american idol" at night. boy, she's going to be busy. degeneres will replace paula abdul as the fourth judge. the ninth season of "americ idol" begins next january.

>> bruce springsteen is among those who will receive one of the highest honors in washington and he'll join all of them when they visit the president. ♪ yep, the boss has been named one of the recipients of this year's kennedy center honors. the tribute gala is set ace on december the 6th. other honorees are -- >> we have breaking news to report right now. a deadly accident has part of route 7 in northern virginia shut down. we'll have the latest. > plus, president obama goe directly to congress to lay out his plan for health care reform. what could happeno the congressman who heckled him. >> you lie.

good morning to you. thanks for waking up with us this morning on "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison today. thursday, september 10th, 2009. >> let's get a look at our forecast right now. tom kierein's joined us right here in the tud yoe, as you can see. >> the cloud races are on. here's a view of our sky. the clouds are skipping through here on a rather blustery east wind that's picking up on the potomac. gusts over 20 miles an hour this morning. as we take a look at radar, we are getting a few showers to the south of us in prince george's county, right now into central charles county, st. mary's county, southern calvert and the nestern partsf t elsewhere, no precipitation be elerwh no precipitation m.er certainly is a cool morning, too, low and mid-60s around the region. 65 in washington. look at ocean city. they just had a wind gust of 33 mis an hour. that coastal low pressure system's getting close maintou i co t 5ol0s. cool 50s. this low will continue to give us a chance of some rain.

in fact, a likelihood of rain by this afternoon. into tonight, per ahanpsha inchf rain with blustery winds by this time tomorrow morning. looks like finally drying out friday into the weekend. a look at next week coming up in ten minutes. >> looking forward to it. thank you, tom. >> let's go to jerry edwards now and the news 4 traffic network. we have some problems out there. >> we do, indeed. 95 southbound, this is a developing situation, tractor-trailer fire so listen up. 95 southbound near dumfries is now completely blocked. the cab of the tractor-trailer onfire. the fire department arrived just about two minutes ago. they're on the scene trying to knock it down. southbound 95 in dumfries is blocked. northbound, the lanes are open for the time being, but because of rubbernecking it is going to be very heavy and very, very slow. so heads-up for that. let's head over and, this is one of the cameras close to the scene. can't quite see it but we're going to stay focused on it, let you know what's going on right now. big trouble. >> thanks very much, jerry. >> breaking news this morning. one personsea dd and another ert

iniollsb cn nddytoerusft a a stisll still closed as a result of the accident, tying up traffic. tracee wilkins is there on the scene with the latest on the investigation. tracee, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. we have two things happening here. to my left here they are actually taking measurements for where this car started to lose control and then to my right they are dealing with the actual scene, where they still have the body of the victim tram inside the vehicle that was absolutely demolished. part of tt car trapped underneath the dump truck there. they tell us around 1:40 a.m. that the driver was coming down route 7, approaching route 15. that the driver of that car lost control, sideswiped a dump truck, absolutely destroying the car. the passenger was killed immediately, according to police. they say that the driver then fled and was picked up attempting to hitchhike about a block away here on route 7. he's now undergoing dui testing.

police say they found alcohol inside of the car and had several reports that this guy was driving erratically coming down route 7. they're going to test him for dui. now, route 7 westbound between river creek parkway and battlefield are shut down so they can deal with this investigation. now, again, over here to the right hand side you can see better now in the daylight how much debris was left in the roadway. police are taking measurements, trying tfigure out exactly where that car lost control and nail down how all of this happened. i'm tracee wilkins, live this morning on route 7 in leesburg. eun, back to you in the studio. >> tracee, thank you. >> president obama is trying to rally congress to reach a deal on health care reform. he addressed a rare joint session of congrs last night. o sr.alt falle esprcy so enr. he shi sed he shied fnype scsfici aabt ny specifics ie p aslleceiegi of atidthay that he wants it to cost about $9li00il b.on pren a ectt heve a letter he received from the

la s sator ted kennedy inich wroe heh rote slyor bho befe his death.ef kimberly suiters joins us in the studio with more on what the president said last night. >> joe, in calling on senator kennedy's passion for what he called the great unfinished business of our society, the president referenced the republicans who worked with senator kennedy to pass various health care initiatives. the president saying kennedy was perceived as a big government guy when, in reality, he said he was a big-hearted guy. the president also making a promise to not make the deficit bigger, a chief concern of the american public. >> the time for bickering is over. the time for games has passed. now is the season for action. now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together and show the american peop that we can still do what we were sent here to do. now is the time to deliver on health care.

the public option is -- >> republicans picked a reprentative who's also a heart surgeon to deliver their response. the doctor laid out where they agree and where they don't. >> we agree much needs to be done to lower the cost of health care for all americans. on that goal, republicans are ready, and we've been ready to work with the president for commonsense reforms that our nation can afford. i read the bill democrats passed through committee in july. it creates 53 new government bureaucracies, adds hundreds of billions to our national debt and raises taxes on job-creators by $600 billion, and it cuts medicare by $500 billion while doing virtually nothing to make the program better for our seniors. >> now, the president asking both republicans and democrats not to focus on what they don't

agree about and to move forward with the 80% of the reforms where they do have consensus, saying he does not inten to start over, rather build on what works and fix what doesn't. senate democrats say to expect a bill that can pass next week. joe, back to you. >> kimrly, thanks very much. >> the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie. >> not true. >> house majority leader steny hoyer says he'll work with republican leaders to decide whether a south carolina congressman who heckled president obama during his speech last night should be punished. you just heard republican joe wilson yell, you lie, when the president said that health care reform doesn't mean insuring illegal immigrants. wilson has apologized for the outburst and says his emotions got the best of him. >> a man says the date 9-9-09 -- that's yesterday -- led him to hijack a mexican airliner. authorities say a fanatical preacher used a fake bomb to take over a flight from cancun

just before it landed in mexico city. mexican police stormedhe jet and arrested the man. he later said that 9-9-09 is significant because, he said, it is 6-6-6 upside down. he also said he wanted to alert people to an impending earthquake. 15 americans were among the 103 passengers on board the plane. no one was injured. police believe a large brawl in loudoun county can be traced to bad blood between two different ethnic groups. officers arrived at the evans ridge apartment complex tuesday night for a report of a melee between at least 20 young men. seven men were injured with everything from concussions to broken bones. they told police it started as a fight between people of indian and pakistani heritage. >> i was standing in front of my house, and just about to walk inside. and the moment is like four or five cars showed up.

then they got everything. everything. >> that man's young brother and his cousin were also injured. both attend heritage high school and they told him it may be a carryover of a long-standing tension between the countries of their birth. police tell us that a school resourcefficer has not reported any similar problems at the school. well, police in prince george's county are hoping that someone recognizes a man caught on videotape stealing from area schools. take a look at this. police believe this guy, seen here, is linked here to 11 school break-ins over the last three weeks. investigators say that he breaks in through a window and then steals from vending machines. the man is suspected in thefts of at least seven -- at at least seven different schools. if you do recognize him, give police a call. >> how convicted swindler bernard madoff coached others to fool the s.e.c. what overshadowed apple's

announcement introducing its newest innovation. a politician resigns when he bout ught on tape t aalking an affair. part of i-95 is shut down ki right now. rry edwards will tell you where this fire is and how it will impact your commute.

time for weather and traffic. good morning. it's cloudy and cool, nonl the 60s. a likelihood of rain this afternoon, tonight into perhaps early afternoon on friday. a blustery wind today, too, and much cool earn average. but sun back friday afternoon late and off and on saturday into sunday. highs low 80s. a look into next week and the travel and bus stop forecast in ten minutes. how's the traffic, jerry? >> tom, following the breaking news in virginia. i-95 southbound, dumfries completely closed. this is the southbound side of i-95. the tractor-trailer that caught

fire just around the bend. looks like the firefighters have knocked down most of the fire right now. not seeing a lot of smoke any longer but at one time the smoke was billowing from the southbound side over the median to the northbound lanes. of course, northbound, even with the lanes open, is going to be very heavy and slow because of rubbernecking. southbound 95 remains closed at dumfries because of the tractor-trailer fire. if you want to get on 95 southbound, get on from try angle just below this point. get on after all the activity. looks like they may get a lane open. we'll continue to follow that. wilson bridge, no accidents but in virginia, georgetown pike, route 193 right at the capital beltway, authorities on the scene of an accident there. eun, back to you. >> junior ri, thank you. encouraging news from the federal reserve this morning. why they say the recession may be over. the improvements metro wants to mak right nowo keep you tns a

welcome back. usually at this time every thursday, d.c. mayor adrian fenty joins us live from "connecting with the mayor," but the mayor cannot join us today because of a scheduling conflict. conflict. we s next le r,wiej r un ti:45. 6:45. a fquav hesr a question orus an eyod enlai-m a fenty@nbcwashington.com and we'll -- we may use it on the air. >> metro's board will meet today to discuss the agency's budget. among the items are on the agenda are key safety improvements and a possible fare hike. megan mcgrath joins us live from the shadyville metro station with more. >> reporter: good morning. that metro board meeting takes

place later on today, and faced with billions of dollars in needed capital improvements and a looming $100 million budget deficit, metro officials are going to be grappling with some very difficult decisions over the next year. ultimately, it could all lead to a fare hike for riders. tough times ahead for metro. facing a $100 million budget shortfall, the transit agency is looking for ways to save money and raise revenue, and that may very well mean fare increases in 2011, an idea that isn'too popular with riders. >> i think it's a terrible idea. i mean, i don't want to die on the metro or anything, but they should be getting federal money, not just from the district and virginia and maryland. >> reporter: you don't want to pay more? >> no. absolutely not. >> i don't agree with it at all. you know, cost of living is expensive enough as it is. why pay more to live? >> reporter: there are no hard numbers yet, but metro officials will take up the issue at a

board meeting later today. back in 2008, metro handed down the largest fare hike in its history. also on the agenda for today's meeting, specifics on an $11 billion capital improvement plan. taking top priority, ntsb safety recommendations, including the replacement of all 290 1,000 series railcars. the ntsb has called into question the crashworthiness of the cars which are original to the system and were involved in the deadly collision back in june. and metro also plans to upgrade communication and monitoring systems as well as replace sections of the rail system. this capital improvement plan will cost about $11 billion over the next ten years. eun, back to you. >> megan mcgrath, thank you. joe? >> the head of apple, steve jobs, received a standing ovation in san francisco yesterday as he returned to the public stage. jobs was diagnosed, as you

recall, with pancreatic cancer back in 2004 and he became alarmingly thin, raising concern about his health. the private businessman spoke for the first time about the liver transplant he underwent only five months ago. >> i now have the liver of a mid-20s person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs, and i wouldn't be here without such generosity. >> apple customers can expect to see more long lines. there are changes to the most popular ipod, the nano. jobs also announced lower prices and increased memory capacity across the line for the ipod touch, the classic and the shuffle, and more games have been added to the aps store. new survey from the federal reserve says that the recession may be over. cnbc's rebecca jarvis now joins us to explain that.

>> reporter: hey, joe, not only is it saying the recession may finally be over, it'slso saying the economy is growing again. the so-called beige book report compiles info on business conditions in the fed's 12 districts and companies imost part o s of the country say they are cautiously positive about the road ahead. economists warn the economy is fragile. bernard madoff apparently coached several people on how to deal with questions from government regulators about his investment business. the state of massachusetts has released a transcript from a 2005 telephone call between madoff and a business associate. he says, and i'm quoting here, "you don't have to be brilliant to fool the s.e.c.." the transcript emerged as part of a settlement massachusetts reached this week with a hedge fund which fed investors to madoff. the trouble here, joe, is that you really -- i don't know if you have to be brilliant to fool the s.e.c., but it certainly can be done on the billion dollar

level. that's what bernard madoff did. we will basically be hearing a lot more about how he conducted that scheme as this whole thing unfolds and the s.e.c. continues its investigation. back over to you. >> i guess it helps if you're willing to go to prison for a long, long, long, long time. >> reporter: i don't know if anyone sets out to go to prison for a long, long time. but unfortunately, the s.e.c. really had the wool pulled over its eyes on numerous counts. that's what we've heard as this whole thing has unraveled. >> didk you, rebecca anthu,yo rebecca jarvis. ws 4 tcaayod isayng looki a jobs for you. sthooe'er jeob fare' at the corner. f ns corner. th is happening today from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. eun? >> joe, thank a california lawmaker has resigned after comments about his extramarital affair and sexual escapades were caught on tape. in this video recorded in july, the then orange county assembly man mike duvall was caught

bragging about affairs he was having with two women. the graphic conversation took place during a committee hearing break. duvall apparently did not realize a microphone in front of him was on the entire time. >> the woman he was talking about happens to be a lobbyist. since duvall was vice chair of the energy and commerce committee an ethics investigation has been launched. duvall is married with two grown children. >> let's get a check on our forecast now as we near the end of this hour. >> the sun ever going to come back out again, tom? >> in space no one can hear you complain, and here is a view from the space shuttle overlooking hurricane fred yesterday over the far eastern atlantic. look at this spectacular view. i would make a lousy astronaut. i would have my face at the window look out the whole time. houston would be on the radio, going, tom, we need you to do

those experiments. i would say, no, come up here and make me. these photos and video from the space shuttle and space station spectacular, right over the eye of hurricane fred. this was taken yesterday afternoon. well, here we don't have any hurricanes but we we have a coastal low that's giving us clouds. sunrise about five, six, seven minutes ago. a few breaks in the clouds. that's the live view from our city camera. it's a cool 65 in washington. right now on the radar we do have some light rain falling in southern maryland, st. mary's, southern calvert county crossing the tidal potomac heading to the west and moving toward the northern neck of virginia. no other precipitation except one shower here in southern frederick county, maybe a few sprinkles here in southern loudoun county at this time. and temperatures all around the region, low and mid-60s from the blue ridge all the way to the atlantic beaches as we're under the influence of this very strong coastal low. in fact, through tonight we've got gale warnings in effect for the bay. where you see this pink area as well as tidal potomac. gusts to 45 miles an hour.

the waves on the bay can be two to three feet. look at ocean city. they had a wind gust there at 33 miles an hour. they've got a steady wind there at around 20 to 25 right now. well, if you're traveling today, could be some delays around the four corners regions, texas and oklahoma as well as the south land and florida. otherwise shouldn't have any travel problems. this morning's bus stop forecast, cloudy, maybe a passing shower, a small chance. in the 60s. and then by noontime and into the afternoon hours we ve a n increased chance of som rain. in fact, rain likely this afternoon and tonight. by this sme tomorrow morning maybe up to as orchmus an inch of rain will have fallen. gusts to 30 miles an hour here locally as thi cchoaal low is creeping closer to the beaches. unfortunately, because it is coming a little farther west than anticipated yesterday, ow oks ke the rain may linger into part of friday, but should dry out late friday afternoon.ok some sun coming back. bu int gaor a tomcorow but warming up over the weekend saturday and sunday. some sun back, highs in the low and mid-80s. that's the way it looks on this

thursday morning. t thank you, tom. w e ha>> some breaking news from the news 4 traffic network now. let's go to jerry edwards. >> good morning. i want to show you some live pictures here of 95 southbound headed on down to dumfries and beyond. it is at a virtual standstill while authorities continue to clean up the tractor-trailer fire which has blocked 95 southbound just below dumfries right now. as a result, everybody's being diverted off in dale city. so it's a real mess on the southbound side. more stop than go forsure. northbound lanes are open, but a hefty rubbernecking backup getting past the scene. elsewhere, as tracee wilkins has been reporting, the investigation continues on that terrible accident in leesburg. chopper 4 over the scene to show us that westbound route 7, market street remains closed at this hour. eastbound does remain open, but it is going to be slow as you get past the scene. heads-up for that. elsewhere, chopper over the scene there in leesburg again. the eastbound side is open, westbound remains closed while

the investigation continues. they could be out there for a while yet. back to you. >> it's a mess. than yok jerry. >> thanks a lot. today's news 4 morning person wakes up every day and greets raeryone with ayo smile. d onymuntrgonis dibutes the ex paneespewsisr. prpresexnewspaper. fo b cune ddlyt aeth tonlwn su.a.tation on wisconsin avenueu. friends say mr. you sings andws h aesnc kisno neighborhood very well a every roeth mit ws people going down metro with a smile and a joke. w ymou know someone like mr. d ong,un uy ats gpnbin sttoatn@y s u morningperson@nbcwashington.com. that's "news 4 today." thanks for starting your day with us. >> have a great day. we'll see you tomorrow morning. >> bye. s